Bear-worshipping Ainu to flourish again By Julian Ryall in Tokyo Last Updated: 4:20AM BST 07/06/2008 A bear-worshipping indigenous minority of northern Japan are to receive official recognition, a move that will end 140 years of enforced assimilation and discrimination. Representatives from Japan's minority Ainu people bow their heads after the Japanese parliament recognised their indigenous status The Ainu, the original inhabitants of Hokkaido island, were conquered by Japan in the mid-1800s and forcibly assimilated into Japanese culture. The Meiji government in Tokyo declared the Ainu language illegal, forced them to adopt Japanese names, redistributed their land to mainland settlers and...